The NWWN is a community of practice, that is, a forum for people who share an interest in working waterfronts and are engaged in supporting the continued economic, cultural and recreational contributions they provide for communities, regions, and the nation. As a community of practice, the NWWN considers all participants as members with opportunities to interact, share experiences, and advance knowledge, thereby increasing general awareness and enabling more informed decision making on all matters that impact the future of working waterfronts.
At the 2010 National Working Waterfronts and Waterways Symposium in Portland, Maine a group of participants agreed to establish an organization as a way to create a community of practice around issues associated with our nation’s working waterfronts. In 2012, the group formalized the National Working Waterfront Network, created an Executive Committee and adopted Operating Procedures that set forth, among other things, the NWWN’s mission and organizational objectives, and a governance structure that involves national and regional representation as well as committees and subcommittees.
The network engages in the following activities:
- Hosts symposium every two to three years. See information about our prior conferences here.
- Sponsor listserv to share information about working waterfront issues
- Created the Sustainable Working Waterfronts Toolkit for the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration accessible through this website under RESOURCES.
- Publish quarterly newsletters
Other accomplishments by the organization and its members include a wide range of outreach and educational activities promoting working waterfronts. Areas of efforts include development of policy positions in support of working waterfronts, analyses of state legislative efforts to support working waterfronts, exploration of a pro-bono legal network to support working waterfronts and annual presentations about working waterfront issues at numerous conferences nationwide.
